An Exception To The Rule?

We just opened a 2001 Reininger Merlot. Wow! "That tastes like Bordeaux!" Right bank, of course. Complex berry flavors with balancing tannin and acid to give it structure. Will this wine continue to improve with age. Only the shadow knows. The 2002 Walla Walla Vintners Cabernet Franc we recently tasted proved the rule - the fruit had turned prune-like and the acid and tannin were dominant. This is what happens to most American wines with a few exceptions. They taste great when they are released because of the upfront fruit and relative lack of tannin and acid which help a wine to age well. They are made for immediate appeal and are great the day you bring them home which is how most wine in America is drunk, relatively few people having a cellar or temperature- controlled unit in which to age wine. The 2001 Reininger was an exception to the rule. I'd like to say Reininger rules, but recent vintages have been disappointing and seem unlikely to age as well as the 2001 or 2002 vintages.